Thursday, September 27, 2012

Last Monday at Heritage Quilting there were quite a few quilters away at my table, which meant I got to sit with someone ‘new’…I met and talked to Hazel, a fairly new member at Heritage! Turns out that we have a lot in common…besides being quilters of course! We are practically neighbours, she use to be a teacher (…although she changed careers for something more exciting…yup MORE exciting than teaching…who knew?!…and with way better pay too…!) AND she got her ‘new’ mid-arm about six months ago! WELL… when I heard this I began pumping her for info…so much so, that she invited me over to her house for a look at her set up! EUREKA!

Yesterday was the day! We both live in the same area… surrounded by farmland, vineyards and forests about a 10 minute drive away from each other. Who knew that her street was even there…let alone her beautiful, humongous house!

Here is her studio! Yes, STUDIO!! It’s upstairs in her home and is MASSIVE! One wall is all window letting in all that natural light!

And here is her new addition!! Hazel also got a great deal for her baby…a deal she just couldn’t refuse!

She has THREE long work tables…

Look at the rack mounted to the wall to store her projects…no UFO bins for her!

And a view to blow your mind! Keep in mind that my camera is a point and shoot cheapie…the view was breathtaking…better than my camera could pick up!

Her cutting table…

Here is Hazel posing with a quilt that is hot off her new quilting frame…gorgeous isn’t it?!

And here is her STORAGE area…yowzers I could REALLY use this!! (I think we ALL could!!)

Since getting her mid-arm Hazel has been banging off quilts left, right and centre! She has SIX grown children and they are ALL getting quilts for Christmas!

Let me give you a little sampling…

Hazel called this the Winter Quilt for her skier…

…and her quilting…nice…very nice!

For her gardening daughter…

For her daughter who loves all things purple…

Hazel said that her quilting is improving with each quilt…I guess the secret is to just JUMP IN…and DO it!

This is for her bachelor boy…her first quilt. She said she learned the most doing this one!

Loved the Paddington bear quilt…she hasn’t finished quilting this one yet. This is for her two year old grandson who LOVES Paddington Bear. Love the stars and the inner bias stripe border!

Since getting her new Mid-Arm, Hazel has amassed quite a stack of quilts! I predict that there will be some very happy ‘kids’ in Hazel’s family on Christmas Morning!

Hazel even loaded a quilt top, batting and backing to show me how she does it…This was SEW helpful! So THANK YOU, Hazel!! I enjoyed EVERY moment and learned a ton! But let me tell you, it is not going to be easy to go back to my tiny sewing room and my spare bedroom/quilting room!! WE really shouldn’t SEE or even know that STUDIOS like this exist!! Don’t get me wrong…I love my wee, small sewing room…but well…ummmm…that STUDIO sure was spectacular! :o}

I agree. Sometimes it's better to never even see or know about wonderful studios like Hazels. I am so grateful for my little piece of quilting area I carved out of my home, but when I see such nice sewing rooms it almost seems surreal!

WOW!!! What a space. I couldn't help but notice all of the empty spots in her storage unit...Hazel needs to buy more fabric. I love her most recent quilt - the border split between black and white is amazing!

Oh Boy, Rick's gonna be real busy building on to the house, and making your new sewing room! To say nothing of all the new quilting stuff you could get to put in it. That's a fabulous setup she has, you should visit more often.